Pictures: World celebrates New Year

Revellers get crushed against the barricades in Whangamata. Picture / Bradley Ambrose

People around the world have celebrated the start of the New Year.

New Zealand was one of the first places to see in 2006, followed a couple of hours later by Australia's east coast where a spectacular firework display lit up Sydney Harbour.

Elsewhere the partying was mixed with fears about security. Israel stepped up its patrols and police in Paris were also on the lookout for trouble.

The west coast of the US will be one of the last places to mark the New Year - midnight in Los Angeles being 9pm on January 1 in New Zealand.

- HERALD ONLINE STAFF